


La Belle

by oyogihodai (alder_knight)



Category: Free!, High☆Speed!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fencing, For the Future Festival (Free!), Gen, High ☆ Speed!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-13
Updated: 2015-08-13
Packaged: 2018-04-14 14:12:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4567557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alder_knight/pseuds/oyogihodai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Haruka lifted off his mask and shook out his hair, sweaty and frowning in irritation. "I already told you," he said shortly, "I only fence epee."</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	La Belle

**Author's Note:**

> For the Future Festival: Day 4 - Non-Swimming Sports 
> 
> The fencing AU.  
> Corresponds with volume one of High☆Speed!

Haruka lifted off his mask and shook out his hair, sweaty and frowning in irritation. "I already told you," he said shortly, "I only fence epee."

"I know, I know!" said Rin, bouncing impatiently on the balls of his feet. "That's why I signed up for the epee competition! We need three plus an alternate in order to compete, and the tournament's only three weeks away. Don’t worry, though, I’m already working on getting the other members together; there’s plenty of good epeeists in this club. Come on, Nanase, it'll be fun!"

Haru blinked at him, his face suggesting he thought the prospect sounded anything but. Turning away without a word, he slid his mask back on and resumed his point control exercises.

Rin hesitated for a moment, and then shrugged and trotted away.

***

Haru was seated, stretching out his hamstrings, when someone stepped into his light. He looked up in annoyance, which only grew when he saw who it was.

"So," said Rin, dropping down next to him into a quad stretch, "Tachibana says he's game for the epee team. I asked him about it after you and I talked yesterday. He's pretty good, and he's big, which helps. Nagisa-kun wants in, too, but his infighting needs work. I told him he has to be able to beat me in a five-point bout before I'll consider adding him. I think he's got it in him, though. I've decided not to do the individual sabre or foil brackets at the tournament, by the way - gotta focus. I think we should all stick to just the team event. Coach Sasabe said we can have our own boys’ epee team name for the competition, if we want one. I'm thinking something really cool, like 'Lightning Blades,' or… hey, wait!"

But Haruka had already left the practice floor and gone to change into his knickers.

***

Rin and Haruka stood facing each other, saluted, and pulled on their masks. It was a relief, Haru thought, to be able to share space with Matsuoka without being harangued with a sales pitch for the epee team. It had been a tiring week. He was glad it was over; he’d have peace at least until Monday. He settled into his en garde stance, and Rin did the same.

Their teammate Aki stood ready to keep score. She raised her arm. "En garde. Prête?"

In the brief pause before the bout began, the tension in the room suddenly shifted. Heads turned from other corners to watch Rin and Haruka face off again. It tended to draw a crowd.

Zaki-chan dropped her arm. "Allez!"

Rin closed distance and tapped blades with Haru, who kept a low, tight stance, holding mostly still but with potential like a loaded spring to lash out at any moment the opportunity arose. Rin bounced in his en garde, up on the balls of his feet, arm loose, tip circling gently. The bout was three sets of three minutes, or fifteen points, whichever came first.

Rin beat at Haru's blade, and Haru disengaged and extended towards Rin's wrist. Rin retreated a pace. Haru noticed with irritation that his opponent was grinning behind his mask. _What a pain._

He decided to do something about that grin, and launched suddenly into a flèche that caught Rin entirely unsuspecting. Rin cried out as Haru's point made contact with his right shoulder and clicked home. They narrowly avoided colliding. A green light illuminated on the scoreboard, and "01" appeared on Haru's side.

"Halt! One-nothing, Nanase," announced Zaki-chan. "En garde. Prête?"

After two periods and two one-minute breaks, the bout was tied at 14-14: match point, _la belle,_ indicating a beautiful competition between two well-matched opponents. Both Rin and Haruka removed their masks and saluted before preparing to face off for the final point.

"Prête?" called Zaki-chan. "Allez!"

The clock was running down quickly. Haru went for Rin's knee at the same moment that Rin lifted his front foot and lunged in for a toe-touch. Both connected. The clock hit zero as the board illuminated green and red.

That concluded Rin and Haru's match. Practice was over, and fencers were beginning to file out of the room. The two boys returned to their en garde lines, pulled off their masks, and saluted Zaki-chan and each other. They then unplugged from the scoring system and left the strip to drop their gear in the armory and head to the locker room to change.

"That was a great bout!" Rin was exclaiming to a reticent Haru, as they both pulled off their sweaty base layers and changed into regular t-shirts. "I think I would have had you if we went into overtime, though. You open your arm too wide when you parry."

"Says the guy who just let me get four wrist touches on him," remarked Haru coolly, taking off his knee socks.

Rin stammered a reply, flustered, and Haru smiled to himself. Rin was still trying to explain himself when Haruka interrupted with, "Nagisa got five points on you earlier today, didn't he?"

At that, Rin sighed heavily but smiled. "Yeah, he stayed late all week with Coach Sasabe and really cleaned up his infighting. He needs it; he's too small to fence epee at distance. We went three bouts and he finally got five points in the last of them. I gotta admire his determination, he just wouldn't accept losing."

Haru hummed contemplatively. "So Nagisa will be our teammate, then."

“Yeah, he—” Rin began, and then whipped his head around to stare at Haruka. "Nanase! Does that mean…?"

Haru shrugged. "I'll be your alternate. Nagisa seemed really excited about it."

Rin's face lit up like a fireworks display, and Haru briefly regretted his decision. "O- oi…" he began.

"Sorry, sorry," smiled Rin, turning away. "I'm glad we have you on our team, though. We needed another person, that's all. Thanks for saying yes."

"Sure…"

"Don’t think I’m going to take it easy on you now, just because we’re on the same team, though!"

Haru snorted. "Seemed like you were, earlier."

"Hey! That was a tie! You're lucky I didn't come at you with my full force," challenged Rin, flexing his arms. 

"As expected from a sabre fencer," remarked Haruka, lacing his trainers. "Noisy. No finesse."

"Oh, I'll show you finesse, Nanase... hey, now that we're teammates, let's go by first names..."

They finished changing. Together, Haru and Rin went out front to meet their companions, and began their first jog home together as a team.

**Author's Note:**

> Shout-out to @fencer-x who convinced me this AU was a good idea. It was nice to try it out for the festival. I want to write more of it. 
> 
> Shout-out also to @redcirce who beta'd this and also used to be one other third of the triumvirate who ruled our college fencing team with a glittery-gloved fist. I'd duel for your tarnished honor again any day, bro.
> 
> (Let me know if the fencing terminology is completely incomprehensible.)


End file.
